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MY 2 CENTS: Talkin' marathons, Heisman trophies and Don Zimmer

I lounged back on our couch earlier this week, holding proof pages from our all-area basketball
sections last March.

The point of the exercise was to study up on the upcoming hoops season – we’re only a little more than a week away from tipoff for the girls season, folks.

That realization set in pretty deep that night on the couch.

See, it’s easy to get entrenched in one season, so much so that it’s hard to see what else is going on.

So I thought I’d take a quick look at what else I might be missing in the world of sports. Here’s what I came up with:

• Apparently, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to run the New York Marathon on Sunday, despite his city being in shambles after superstorm Sandy.

Bloomberg feels that the marathon will raise the spirits of those cold, hungry and trying to survive.

Of course, providing food, shelter and protection – all things that would be diverted away from those suffering for the needs of the marathon – would better serve that purpose.

Honestly, when I am hungry or cold, watching someone run 26.2 miles does little for my spirits.

• I’ve seen a few stories run over the wire promoting Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch’s candidacy for the Heisman Trophy. While I am a pretty solid NIU-backer, I just don’t see it happening.

Sorry Jordan, but if Michael Turner and Chandler Harnish couldn’t get a sniff, then I doubt you’ll get the call. I’ll let Ty Reynolds handle the other candidates in his weekly “Campus Blitz” column in the coming weeks.

On a side note, it has to be a good sign for Sterling graduate and starting left tackle Tyler Loos that Lynch is having a big season. I mean, he wouldn’t be getting all those yards and touchdowns without Loos and his buddies across the front doing their jobs.

• More people are getting charged in the Jerry Sandusky scandal and the apparent coverup at Penn State.

That’s a good thing. Hopefully they all get locked up and the key gets buried wherever they put that statue of Joe Paterno.

• Finally, on a lighter note, Don Zimmer vows to return for his 65th year in major league baseball next spring. That’s impressive.

I bring this up because Zimmer, 81, is the first manager of the Cubs that I remember. I was 7 years old when Zimmer managed the Cubs into the playoffs in 1989.

At that point, I thought Zimmer was ancient. When the Cubs dumped him in 1991, I figured he’d probably just retire. Who knew he’d have years of managing and even fighting Pedro Martinez ahead of
him?